The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Today, many devices are equipped with a touchscreen via which users provide input to various applications. A user now can manipulate objects displayed on the touchscreen using her fingers or a stylus rather a keyboard, a mouse, or another input device. Moreover, a device equipped with a so-called multi-touch interface can process user interaction with multiple points on the touchscreen at the same time.
A particular input pattern including such events as, for example, a contact with the touchscreen and a certain motion of a finger or several fingers over the surface of the touchscreen typically is referred to as a gesture. A gesture can correspond to a selection of, or input to, a certain command or function. For example, a trivial gesture may be a tap on a button displayed on the touchscreen, whereas a more complex gesture may involve rotating an image or a portion of the image by placing two fingers on the touchscreen and moving the fingers along a certain path.
In general, a wide variety of software applications can receive gesture-based input. For example, such electronic devices as smart phones, car navigation systems, and hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) units can support software applications that display interactive digital maps of geographic regions. Depending on the application and/or user preferences, a digital map may illustrate topographical data, street data, urban transit information, traffic data, etc. In an interactive mode, the user may interact with the digital map using finger gestures.